''Mesalina watsonana'', known
commonly known as the Persian long-tailed desert lizard, is a
species of sand-dwelling
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
in the
family Lacertidae
The Lacertidae are the family (biology), family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Afro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at least 300 species in 39 genera. They represent the dominant group o ...
. The species is
endemic to
Asia.
Etymology
The
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''watsonana'', is in honor of "Mr. H.E. Watson" who was a Civil Officer in Pakistan.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Mesalina watsonana'', p. 280).]
Geographic range
''Mesalina watsonana'' occurs in, from west to east,
Iran,
Turkmenistan,
Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and
India.
Reproduction
''Mesalina watsonana'' is
oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...
.
[
]
References
Further reading
* Nilson G, Andrén C (1981). "''Die Herpetofauna des Kavir-Schutzgebietes, Kavir-Wüste, Iran'' ". ''Salamandra'' 17 (3/4): 130–146. (''Mesalina guttulata watsonana'', p. 138). (in German, with an abstract in English, and bilingual image captions).
* Sindaco R, Jeremčenko VK (2008). ''The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic: 1. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia''. Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 580 pp. .
* Smith MA (1935). ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. II.—Sauria.'' London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 440 pp. + Plate I + 2 maps. (''Eremias guttulata watsonana'', pp. 389–390).
* Stoliczka F (1872). "Notes on Reptiles, collected by Surgeon F. Day in Sind". ''Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'' 1872: 85–92. ("''Eremias esalinaWatsonana''", new species, pp. 86–87).
watsonana
Reptiles described in 1872
Taxa named by Ferdinand Stoliczka
{{Lacertidae-stub